Recent Episodes
Something surprising in infants diapers
With two grown children now, I've changed my share of diapers but Norbert - not once did I consider that brown mess - precious.
That's certainly not how I'd describe dirty diapers!
But it's true! Their poop was partly responsible for them staying healthy. Infants have little to no microbiome at birth. That's the bacteria that live in each person's gut.
Establishing a healthy one is crucial in developing a child's immune system and helping them avoid issues such as asthma, allergies, respiratory infections, diabetes, and obesity.
But that role isn't limited to bacteria. The gut virome which are the viruses in our gut also keep us healthy. And we have ten times more of viruses than bacteria which means there are close to a quadrillion viruses which is one followed by fifteen zeros!
Many of these viruses are bacteriophages which means they attack bacteria including the ones that harm us. A recent study of over six hundred Danish one-year olds looked at the viruses in their poop.
Ten thousand new viruses were found and these had a role in shaping which bacteria populated the children's guts.
Already, poop transplants have been done to treat gut infections. Viral therapies are used in C.Diff bacterial infections which are potentially life threatening. Similar viral therapies can also treat some forms of diet induced obesity.
The new viral families discovered in this study have been named after the children in the study, so there's the Amandaviridae and Alberteviridae.
You can now hear additional episodes on many of your favorite podcast providers - visit Buzzsprout to subscribe.
More Information
Scientists identify thousands of unknown viruses in babies' diapers
Research involving Danish babies' dirty diapers has provided a plethora of information on previously unknown viruses - and the best view yet of the makeup of the infant gut microbiome. Writing in the journal Nature Microbiology, an international team of researchers reports it has uncovered 10,000 new viruses in infant feces...
Baby Microbiome: Nurturing Your Baby's Healthy Bacteria
By now, you've heard the news: The trillions of bacteria that inhabit your gut and other bodily regions can have a critical impact on your overall health. The same holds true for babies, new research shows...
Expanding known viral diversity in the healthy infant gut
The gut microbiome is shaped through infancy and impacts the maturation of the immune system, thus protecting against chronic disease later in life. Phages, or viruses that infect bacteria, modulate bacterial growth by lysis and lysogeny, with the latter being especially prominent in the infant gut...
